This feels like a really dumb question...

[semby]

So I've just rewatched the Buffy season 2 episode, "The Dark Age". In the scene where Giles tells Buffy to stay out of his business because it's "private", Buffy replies: "I don't care from private! I care from dead guys attacking us

Comments

[alwaysjbj]

I know it has always struck me as odd when I've watched that ep...but I just put it down to being an Americanism. lol

[anonymous]

It's definitely not correct grammar, and I don't believe common. I think it's a reference to one of those old Italian-mobster movies from the 70's or 80's. But I think it's usually used more like "don't know from"...

I think this is one of those cases where Joss's age is showing. That's the sort of phrase that would be much more familiar to a guy his age than a girl Buffy's... Maybe it's Xander's influence... ;)

[tabaqui]

Actually - and you should probably ask on little_details, because they would know if anyone would...

I think this is a sort of 'colloquial' speech pattern that is Yiddish in origin.

[slaymesoftly]

*nods* yep. That would have been my suggestion. It's probably not all that common for someone of Buffy's background, but the Scoobies do a lot of references to old movies and TV shows ("you've got some 'splaining to do") and I think it's just Buffy using something for effect. It's the kind of thing she might have heard from an old comedian or in an old movie or TV show. Definitely not correct, but colloquial and quite common in some parts of the country. Perhaps it's past its prime, as the younger readers didn't seem to recognize it, but it made me smile. But then, I'm old. lol

[tabaqui]

Exactly. It was something that the writers obviously liked but sometimes clashed a bit with what we know about Buffy-the-character.

[auroramama]

Yes, "I don't know from..." is more common. It's a construction from Yiddish, though I don't know whether it shows up in German as well. A lot of Yiddishisms show up in entertainment lingo written by folks my age and older, at least in the US. Check out =Strictly From Hunger=, Bugs Bunny, and =King of the Hill=.

[botias]

It is not common, and I feel certain it is not 'correct'.

It is meant to be a joke. It's whitebread teenager-speak, probably regional. Joss liked to juxtaposition mall-slang and other signs of a privileged adolescence with these sorts of 'I'm growing up in a horrific warzone and may not survive' discussions.

[semby]

Yeah, I suppose it is along those lines. It just feels so different from any of the other uniquely Buffyverse/Jossian slang that I was curious to find out if it came from anywhere else. Thanks for your input!